Reviews by thegodfather1076:

Presentation: Cool classy looking classic label that is very eye-catching. Gives a small description of the beer, ABV info, web info, and brewery info.

Appearance: I allowed this to warm for 15min before I decanted from its 12oz bottle into a 16oz snifter. KBBS pours out an oily jet black with a 1½ finger tan foam head of a medium density. Head retention was rather short at 1min 5sec before fading into a thin foam ring. Good lacing.

Smell/Aroma: Smells of deep roast coffee with hints of a toasted nuttiness. Very burnt in the nose with slight hints of smoke and dark fruit. KBBS has a nice bourbon backbone.

Flavor/Taste: Taste is dominated by roasted coffee bitterness and a burnt smokiness as well as nutty chocolate malt sweetness on the front-end. A slight caramel vanilla sweetness is detected mid taste before giving way to a smokey oaked bourbon finish!!! Really Awesome!!

MouthFeel/Drinkability: On the lighter side of full bodied with a slick mouthfeel and a dry finish. Very drinkable though maybe a bit intense for some.

Overall/Comments: I was very impressed with this offering. The bourbon barrel really adds incredible complexity in the nose and on the palette. Alcohol is masked extremely well in this offering! Classified as an American Double/Imperial Stout. Consumed 3/15/13.

More User Reviews:

I've been over-indulging in this style today, but what the hey. This one works pretty well. It is unique. In the end, I am reminded of my attitude about these before Founders KBS (which is sublime) - why not just have a shot of bourbon with a nice stout, and sip it pleasantly.

This baby looks like it should, black and beautiful. The fine head is just a little fizz. The aroma is a nice balance of bourbon, malts, roasty smells, hops and alcohol.

Similarly, the taste is fairly complex. It has a nice balance of all the above, and the aftertaste is like a shot of bourbon, only very mellow.

This stout works better than I remembered it, and I recommend it as a reasonably easy drinking version of the style.

Overall: This is an average roasty, coffee stout. The bourbon is faint if existent at all. I was expecting it to be a lot more pronounced. Not a bad beer, but nothing that really differentiates this from most other stouts. The original Ale is by far and away my favorite from this brewery.

Poured into snifter; jet black with a thin fizzy brown head that fades quickly into a thin ring of foam. Smells of roasted malt and coffee, with slight bitter chocolate and dark fruit. Not much barrel character in the smell; not getting any oak, and only a tiny hint of bourbon. To be fair, the only other BA stouts I've had are BCBS, Dragon's Milk, and Cerburus (Bourbon), and those were all very strong on the bourbon character. Taste is roasted malt and bitter coffee, a hint of baking chocolate, smoothing out into sweetness and a tiny ghost of bourbon. Finishes wet and relatively clean, with some lingering coffee and sweetness. Mouthfeel is a bit thin and watery for an imperial stout.
Overall it's a good stout, but I'd expect something called "Bourbon Barrel Stout" to taste like it had been in a bourbon barrel at some point.

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stout, the ale has been selling like hot cakes for stores in Ohio...the sad thing is I can't figure out why. When I saw this version I still had to give it a go it mentions aged with Haitian coffee, pours pitch black with a fizzy light tan head. Aroma gives off the coffee notes with hints of vanilla, charred oak, and bourbon. The flavor however keeps it along the lines of a mediocre light fizzy stout that may have been aged in oak bourbon barrels but really doesn't have enough body to carry out the characteristics that the barrel has to offer, first of I don't believe this beer is 8% that is hidden way too well. Remains a bit one dimensional even watery on my palate, it finishes with some bourbon flavor charred oak and watered down bourbon that warms the gut just a bit after a few sips. Really all and all it's a beer I will never go back to the carbonation and textures fall flat on the palate, just poorly made beer put in bourbon barrels that's my final impression.